My Bad, Ben: A Sincere Apology to Mr. Sheets

Dear Ben Sheets,

I would like to apologize to you for some of the comments I made concerning your signing with the Atlanta Braves over two weeks ago. I wasn’t the only one who had doubts about the Braves bringing in a thirty-three year old pitcher who had been out of baseball for over two years, and those doubts grew a bit following your first start with the AA Mississippi Braves, in which you gave up four runs in five innings of play.

Your mediocre start in the minors was soon followed by a call up to the League to face Johan Santana and the New York Mets, which appeared to me as sending a sheep to the wolves in the fact that you would merely take the loss against Santana, who had been pretty much lights out throughout the season, instead of one of the other starting pitchers in Atlanta’s rotation. Given the fact that your last season in MLB wasn’t too successful (posted a 4-9 record with a 4.53 ERA with the Athletics in 2010), I, along with the majority of Tomahawk Nation, wasn’t about to hold my breath.
Although I wasn’t about to hold my breath prior to your start, what you did with your opportunity nearly took my breath away, as you pitched five scoreless innings with five strikeouts and just two hits in a helpful 6-1 victory over New York. The game was a win-win for both the Braves and yourself, as the win validated the team’s decision to sign you for next-to-nothing and to show the rest of baseball that the man who once struck out eighteen batters (against the Braves back in 2004) was back and meant business.

Your start on Sunday made you the talk of the sports world for the next twenty-four hours, as broadcasters around the nation commented on the comeback of the year and talked about how inspiring the story truly was. While Atlanta is desperately hoping for similar results out of you on Saturday against the NL East-leading Washington Nationals, the inconvenient truth of the matter is that the world of sports needs your continued success even more. With so many depressing and frankly disgusting stories in sports right now, an underdog worth rooting for is undoubtedly needed, and you, sir, definitely fit that bill. So, Ben, keep up the good work, make your pitches count, and make your critics change their thinking; You’ve already made a believer out of one of them.

Sincerely,

Jordan Hill